For more on Operation Flashpoint: Red River, check out our full Operation Flashpoint: Red River review. Or, for more of the best Xbox 360 games for an 11 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
Anyone who sits down to play Operation Flashpoint: Red River will require a heck of a lot of patience. A squad based, military first person shooter, Red River puts you in charge of a fireteam of four marines, as you partake in a war against both the People's Liberation Army of China, and a band of Tajikistan terrorists.
With an emphasis on realism, Red River will have a tendency to be frustrating to younger players. This is no Call of Duty - here, a stray bullet in the wrong place is all it takes to kill you, and hitting the enemy is a lot harder, too. With levels that have badly placed checkpoints, and regular deaths, you can all too often find yourself replaying the same section over, and over, again, which young people may find frustrating.
Equally frustrating are your squadmates, who often simply refuse to do what you tell them to. As you're their boss, they're meant to listen to your orders, but far too often, they don't. Of course, playing in multiplayer online, with your child's three friends taking over the roles of the fireteam, things are a lot better, and much less frustrating - but the single player remains a disappointment, and may be so awkward it could put anyone without a metric tonne of patience off entirely.
Where do we start. Operation Flashpoint: Red River is one of the most foul mouthed games we've ever played. When we say there's a swear word in every sentence, that's not actually that much of an exaggeration, as it'd probably average out at slightly more than one. From the second you start playing, you'll be being referred to as "b*tches", "m**therf*ckers", with most of the language being thrown around by your commanding officer, SSgt. Knox, who even refers to your "white ass" at one point. Somehow, we're not convinced racism from commanding officers would be allowed in the army.
Apart from the frequent, crude, and often distracting language, there's not too much else to mention in Operation Flashpoint. While the combat's realistic, it's not overly gory, and while enemies will give out puffs of red when their hit, that's all they'll do - there's no decapitations here, or other grizzly bits. Simply a puff of red, and a red patch appearing on the enemy's uniform.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
